Dear All,
Many many thanks again to all who sent their support and helped me get through this without feeling like a complete idiot. Well, to update all who asked: the guests left today around lunchtime. Not before the pregnant lady in question threw many more insults, threats and abuse my way that I dare not to repeat and would rather forget. It was appalling, to say the least. Her partner, in fairness, tried to be apologetic and act reasonable but with her screaming and shouting next to him it was like a scene from a cheap telenovela. Suffice it to say, I was glad they left.
Here's how it all came about: in the morning, I first contacted the local midwife to check if she knew anything about the dubious circumstances. It transpired, although of course she had to protect her client's privacy, that she had no idea of the circumstances which is all that I needed to hear from her, in any case. I went straight up to the cottage to talk this over, see if I could finally get some sort of civilised conversation, true background story or anything really that would help me to deal with the situation in an informed way. I got verbal abuse, the door was slammed in my face. A few minutes later I got a phone call from the pregnant lady with more abuse before she hung up on me. Then I simply rang the Airbnb help desk and explained my predicament. I was truly lucky to deal with an extremely helpful, friendly, professional lady who took it from there and dealt with the formalities. I suggested that the guests had better be gone since the situation seemed beyond repair and that I was more than willing to refund any money for the outstanding time (honestly, I would not want a single cent from such people; the money was never an issue here for me). The only thing I asked was that the pregnant guest would not be allowed to comment or review me in her abusive way. Airbnb than stipulated that I would be paid for the three days the guests had stayed already (today had to be counted since they were still around at noon) and that they had no right to review me in any way. Airbnb dealt with all this straight away, tried to also get in touch with my guest (who refused to talk to them at that stage) and really sorted everything out. My calender was directly free again, I had nothing left to do other than oversee the guests' departure. The pregnant lady's partner tried to take leave in an amicable way (slightly undermined by his screaming lady who was abusing the two of us at that point) and assured me he himself knew nothing (!!!) of the situation since he did not know that I was not informed about the pregnancy, home birth etc! It is hard to believe this on top of everything else but I was weary to say anymore. Well, and then they went away.
Now, as for anything that happened to the guests afterwards, I can't say... Airbnb let me believe their money will be refunded so that seems certain. If they were offered any other accommodation/relocation and/or under what circumstances, I do not know. I also don't know if they were penalised (or generally blocked somehow if that exists?) in any way. I am not even sure I want to know, I am only glad that this is over. Fingers crossed this is the last I'll ever hear of this... Some have asked what I'll do now to prevent further scenarios like this or how to communicate with potential guests in the future and, quite frankly, I hardly dare think about it. I mean, how could I put "not suitable for home birth" in my house rules or guest manual without coming across like a complete lunatic for anybody unfamiliar with today's events?! It's almost funny (almost...) to have to spell out something so outrageously obvious and outlandish in nature as to "please ask before you give birth, get married or undergo any other potentially life-changing procedures on my property", is it not? I always thought that being open, direct, honest and available for my guests before, during and after their stays was the way to deal with things but now I am not so sure this is good enough anymore. Common sense got a lot less "common", if you get my meaning... It'll take me a while to digest the experience and make sense of it all. If any of you have ideas or suggestions on how or if to include something like that in their property communications, please share!
Other than that, I can't thank you all enough for your kind words. I do not wish that dubious couple ill, but I hope that wherever their journey takes them, nobody has to go through anything like this anymore. No host should have to be in that position and no guest should put their own (mental?) health or that of an unborn baby at risk. I don't see the benefit for anyone and I hope they see fit to sort themselves out in an appropriate way. As for Airbnb, I was so relieved to find prompt help and understanding, which at least confirmed my believe in Airbnb as a suitable platform for renting out my property. If they read this, thank you!
So, this is where my adventure ends for today and I can't say it often enough: my sincere thanks to all of you! Such a positive spirit that it made the rest bearable. The best of luck to all and cheers from County Cork!